Can anyone help me find out how to request the security video from terminal E at Logan? I've google around a bit and can't find out who to send the request to. I think my teenage daughter got a retaliatory search for opting out and I want the video and I want to register a complaint.

Thanks.

Send a PM to Affection. He has a lot of experience getting video footage.

It has been reported in several threads in Travel Safety/Security here on FT, that whenever tapes are requested, which might put TSA in a "bad light" they somehow are suddenly not available...

Today I found out that the Federal Security Director is George Naccara. Is it best to send a written request or use email (if I can find an email address)?

It may be overkill, and it would cost me a few bucks, but if I really, really wanted it, I would have my attorney send a letter by certified mail.

I've had to request video from a different airport, so I'll share my experience.

I started by contacting the TSA's FOIA office. Don't bother. You're better off mailing a chain letter to a Russian bureaucrat.

However, through that process I discovered (and I believe that it mirrors Affection's experience) that TSA will say they have neither access nor control of the tapes because they are local airport property.

I requested the video from the airport directly by contacting their legal department.

I was told by the airport's general counsel that I was denied access to video of myself because while that state's public information laws are written to require that a citizen of that state be granted access to public documents, as a non-citizen of that state he interpreted that law to mean that only citizens of that state could request video from an international airport.

In Affection's case I believe he was told that the tapes were SSI.

So, yeah, good luck.

I eventually got the tapes by hiring a local (to that airport) attorney who got the tapes from the airport because, dumb luck, the airport's general counsel is a personal friend of his. It was mentioned that I likely wouldn't have gotten the tapes any other way.

So here's my recommendation, write the FSD a letter by return Certified Receipt. If he acknowledges it at all, he'll probably deny it on SSI grounds. I would simultaneously send Certified Letters to the airport's general counsel and TSA FOIA, the latter for no other reason than to create a paper trail. They'll probably point fingers at each other, so this way you've asked for it from everybody.

In the end you may have to hire an attorney.

It's so lame the way these under educated buffoons hide behind secrecy in a supposedly open society.

I did some research, and here's what I found for BOS's parent company's chief legal counsel.

David S. Mackey, Chief Legal Counsel
Massachusetts Port Authority
ONE HARBORSIDE DRIVE SUITE 200S
EAST BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS 02128

If all of those steps fail I'd suggest contacting yur Congresscritter as you're dealing with a Federal agency.

How-To: Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) DHS/TSA/Federal Government and Not Take Any Sh*t (+FTCA Claim)

Please keep in mind that the TSA may stonewall, deny your request, tell you that you have the wrong party (does the video belong to the airport or the TSA? probably airport, but send the request to both), tell you that it's SSI and can't be released, tell you that there will be fees, etc. You can read about my attempts to get video in other posts on the same blog.

--Jon

You advised in your follow up to the CLE video that it was the city that provided the video and not TSA? City of Cleveland is notoriously non responsive to all requests, curious if you could detail how you achieved success with that video dub? Also, curious if they send you a DVD or electronically send a video file?

Should I say why I want the video or is FOIA enough?

I asked them if they wanted to be added to the lawsuit I had in US District Court against the owners of FLL airport and the TSA.

--Jon

It may help you towards obtaining a fee exemption or avoiding a privacy exemption. But, it may make them more likely to deny the request to avoid embarassment.

--Jon

I'm confused. What did you daughter opt out of, what was searched, and how would the video show whether the motivation for the search was retaliatory?

She opted out of the backscatter since she did not want a man in the back room looking at her naked.



I want to review it so that I can be accurate when I describe the incident to my congress people and the president.

And for those keeping up with other developments at BOS, she is a minority.

I was shocked at how easy PBI turned over the tapes to my buddy. He opted-out, overheard the moat dragon say, "you are going to enjoy this" and got what he described as the most thorough pat down of his life.

He wrote letters to the FSD, PBCSO (Palm Beach County Sheriff's Office) the Airport Authority and each of the Palm Beach County Commissioners.

He did not hear back from the FSD, the PBCSO said they do not control the tapes, the airport authority referred him to the TSA. Later that week, he was contacted by two of the Commissioners offering their help and a few weeks later the tape arrived. He played the tape for the two Commissioners who offered their help (apparently they were sympathetic), his Fed Congressperson (and his staff), though he said that the Congressperson was less than responsive, but he felt better venting a little.

I guess if you get the attention of someone with enough power (or connections) the tapes are obtainable, but it does seem to require work.

Dan